I don't forsee this as game-breaking, but there are some considerations that raiding guilds need to bear in mind.
Does PvE Raiding Own Both Specs? Currently, LOKI requires people to show up to raids with the appropriate PvE spec for their class/role. Now - if I'm not the one tanking this boss, and I'm still in as DPS - do I need a PvE DPS spec, or can I swing by with a PvP build? Similarly, does our Feral Druid need to have a Bear spec, and a Cat spec? Rogue have a positional and non-positional dependent PvE DPS spec? Priest have a group healing (holy) and tank healing spec (disc)? You can see where I'm going.
Raid Invites. Do you plan on bringing someone to do two, completely different jobs on purpose? IE, a Shadow Priest that goes Holy for high healing requirement fights. If so, what role officer (if thats how you operate) determines whom to bring. Do you penalize people that only want / are able to play one spec? This also ties into...
Loot. How do you determine who gets what loot? Do single spec people get priority? Can everyone bid/spend DKP (if thats what you use) on all specs, only ones they raid with, or just a single spec?
Recruitment. Do you require people to have / play a second spec, have gear for multiple specs, and need to get applications passed through all officers that could end up working with that person?
Despite all the big questions, I think I've got a good handle on how LOKI will be running things. My instinct tells me that very little will change. Members will be associated with one spec, under that role's officer. People that previously had to respec between fights will take advantage of this system, and our core raiders will probably optimize both specs to do their job - though I doubt I'll require it (by nature of the players we accept, I doubt that people will not do everything possible to help progression). Loot will go to main specs first, with a cap on offspec gear bids - as gearing up one set of specs is all that people will really have a chance to do as we push progression. Second spec will be asked for in the application as a good-to-know thing, and in case we do need to shift someones spec permenently, but it won't make or break an app.
(Note to Guild Members: This is musings, not policy).
5 comments:
I don't think it will be game breaking either.
Mostly, I think people will still stay one spec because of gear restrictions for tanks.
Tanking gear did not get the spellpower buff. We will still need items with +def which will be of lower DPS quality. Therefore, switching between DPS and tanking spec will still require a gear change up to optimize.
Now, druid on the other hand... they got the cream of the spellpower crop considering the swap between Boomkin/Resto. Even they would have to switch gear out to go a tanking tho.
"(Note to Guild Members: This is musings, not policy)."
Good to know. I was considering making my second spec a soloing/pvp spec. I love the glyphed moonfire for raids, but I'm missing it's old initial damage hit when doing dailies and in bgs. I'm not a hard core pvp, but it did away with the whole moonfiring something to death. Now you cast it, and have to wait for it to tick to get the most damage from it. My plans for this might change based on some suggestions I've read recently.
I know Kiran was planning to use feral as his other spec. He likes to tank 5-man instances occasionally. So it would be nice if he was able to shed his leaves once in a while.
I hadn't even considered if PvE would get to "own" or dictate both a players specs.
Hmm, something to think about
Armsandfury,
I know - casters certainly did get a better deal out of the spellpower switch. But its not just tanks that will still need seperate sets of gear: Shamans going from Resto OR Elemental to Enhancement will need seperate sets; Paladins will need a seperate set for each spec, and Resto/Balance druids will need a different set for Feral.
Katie,
Pre 3.0, there was really only one spec for each class/role - there were choices for some people, but they were minor - so I can imagine why you would think PvE only needed one of those slots. Its just that Wrath talents have opened up talent trees with major decisions to make in them, making two spec's within one tree possible, and potentially highly desireable based on what your doing. (but you knew that :P)
I'll prolly spec pve/pvp unless I get to tank stuff.
Also pretty soon you'll see an epic item with
+Power
No more range AP, melee AP, spell power. Just power!
I doubt blizzard will do that but interesting how the community will react
/grab popcorn
If Blizzard can find an aesthetically pleasing conversion formula to make +Power, I'm sure they will (and it will be ridiculously long-winded).
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